Starters are built to run the triangle offense, having yao posting up down low, and Kobe as the prime scorer. Deron Williams has a very simple job in this offense and that is to pound the ball inside with Yao and Rodman clearing the lanes. Williams a very big and strong Pg has many options that is to either drive in and kick it out to an open Kobe at the top or an open Grant Hill who is money from the corners. Although the ball will be mostly with Kobe as he sets the offense, Williams will have his share of scoring. Yao has one job that's to dominate his opponents in the offensive end with his amazing footwork and length. Rodman is there to do the dirty work, as one of the best rebounders the league has ever seen, all he has to do is rebound and putbacks when he can. Grant Hill believe it or not is the x-factor here, very great perimeter shooter and amazing shot creator, although his offense won't be specialized with this team you will find him open 75% of the time due to the crowds Williams and Kobe will cause.

The bench is going to be led by James Harden, and the gameplan for them is to run Shohoku High out the building, Lillard and his quickness and explosiveness will make Sarunas want to go back to Greece. Sarunas is a very weak defender and should be easy for Lillard to drive it in. James Harden is going to be with the ball whenever a half court set is about to be ran, that's when O'neal and Unseld come in two big bodys who's going to post up and have the option to score or kick it out to Luol Deng who will 75% be open due to the double teams that O'neal will cause. Run n Gun is the primary theme here, with Wes Unseld's rebounding and JO shot blocking the ball should be moved up the court right off the bat.

Defense: 2-3 zone

Defensive matchups

Yao on Shaq

Rodman on Dirk

Hill on Artest

Kobe on Gervin

Williams on Parker

Bench:

Lillard on Sarunas

Harden on Petrovic

Luol on Havliciek

Unseld on Petitt or Randolph

Jermaine on Sabonis

obviously Kobe has the ball in the 4th or OT

I will win, because my defense and rebounding will ultimately be too much for the front court of Shohoku High. He only has Shaq in his starting lineup who can rebound and defend, although yao will give him a tough setting expect Rodman to shut down Dirk providing O'neal to be the only primary option for offense. With my 2-3 this will stop Tony Parkers penetration to the paint and force Gervin and Artest to shoot from the outside which has bad written all over it especially with Kobe defending Gervin. My bench is going to be way to quick compared to his bench and Lillard will torch Sarunas. O'neal will give Sabonis a tough time, even if he's around the perimeter, because that's is when O'neal works best. Unseld is a banger and will grab anything that goes up, and Shohoku High's backcourt provides no defense. Petrovic will be scoring but that won't be enough.

It'd be nice if you guys would specify which year of each player you'll be using. It'll stay the same throughout the playoffs of course. There's a huge difference in play style for many of the players from early to late career in this sort of game.

Since I'm pretty late, I won't get to picking rules. Just play basketball, that is all I ask.

Starting Five

C - Shaquille O'Neal - 38m

PF- Dirk Nowitzki - 36m

SF- Ron Artest - 28m

SG- George Gervin - 22m

PG- Tony Parker - 34m

Bench

Arvydas Sabonis - 10m

Bob Pettit - 12m

John Havlicek - 32m

Drazen Petrovic - 20m

Sarunas Jasikevicius - 8m

Offensive Game

Parker and Dirk will play 2-man game, PnR, Pick'N Pop etc. And as soon as we see Shaq not getting doubled, we'll pound the ball inside. Yao can't stop him. During his time with Lakers, Shaq averaged 27ppg against Yao shooting 54 percent. (Yao was only 17ppg with 42 percent) We have massive size advantage. Rodman is a very capable 1-on-1 defender, but with Dirk's range extending to 3 point line and the fact that Dirk has such an awesome mid range game (step back fadeaway case in point), he won't be able to stop him without fouling him. And Dirk being such a good free throw shooter, he's gonna knock them down. Our offense basically revolves around Shaq and Dirk - dynamic duo. As for perimeter shooting, Petrovic will spread the floor and being one of the best shooters of all time - if not the best - he's gonna make life very hard their perimeter defenders, and will keep them honest.

One thing I'd want to point out is that my backcourt players are not 'ball hog'. Meaning, there won't be unnecessary time consuming plays, or TOs resulting from overplaying. Tony is a prime example of that. His assist to turnover ratio was 3 this season. His teardrop shot is beautiful to watch, he's gonna use his speed to beat his man and either finish at the rim. Parker is one of the best if not the best PG at the rim - just look at his FG%. For a guy that doesn't dunk, he has insane efficiency. In 12/13 season, 32% of his shots came from close range and he had 65.5 FG% on those. He's also improved his jump shots tremendously: 47.5 FG% just this season. Gervin was a 50+ FG% player that found SO MANY ways to score. Finger Roll, anyone? His role in this team to complete the Shaq-Dirk-? trio. He was such a good mid range player. I'm sure he's gonna compliment Dirk very well. Ron won't handle any of the offense business, but he'll spread the floor and cut in as the passing lane opens up. Shaq and Sabonis are capable of finding him there.

As for bench vs. bench, my team is just superior. Sabonis is the best passing big man of all time. He can shoot 3, has great touch around the basket. Couple him with his countryman, Sarunas, they are gonna show the high basketball IQ that Lithuanians possess. Hondo is jack of all trades, he is arguably the greatest 6th man ever to play. He led his team to title after Russell retired showing his leadership skills and all around competency. (And did I mention that he was also an epic defender? 5x All Defensive First team of total of 8!) One of the Top 25 players of all time. And Pettit will do a very good job subbing Dirk, that you might not even notice any drop in quality. His craftiness and skill will lead the offense. Facing to the basket, or in high post, he's made a name for himself in Russell era as one of the greatest big man to ever play. Highly regarded in all time lists.

To summarize how my offense will be; look at the 3-peat Lakers. Replace Kobe with Prime-Dirk - steal Sabonis and Pippen (Hondo) from opposing teams, get Reggie Miller (Petrovic) and Chris Webber (Pettit)... you get the full picture. Passing and evaluating the mismatch is the key. If I have two of the greatest offensive weapons of all time: Shaq, Dirk, I need to utilize them, right? Well, that's my plan. The opponent doesn't have a defensive anchor to control the flow of the game. I admit prime Rodman will be a pain and Hill is really good but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Shaquille O'Neal and Dirk Nowitzki, not Kwame Brown and Matt Bonner. That's all.

Defensive Game

Shaq is a big, literally big, blocking threat. He is not a defensive anchor that you can put in same breath as Bill Russell, but he's very agile and with him clogging the paint, Yao won't have the time or place to maneuver. I don't think Dirk will have any trouble dealing with Rodman or any of other bigs, he's just gonna stay focused and box out his opponents. We are especially aware of the rebounding potential of the opponent, but luckily I have size and my guards and forwards are good rebounders.

Only player I'm scared of is Kobe. But for dealing with him I have one of the best perimeter defenders of all time. Ron was a monster at containing the opponent's best players. He's gonna be in the game whenever Kobe is playing. Box and one is a good solution to overcome the Kobe threat. Neither of his forwards are threat from 3-range, only the bench players seem somewhat capable but again the same thing applies, Kobe-Ron <-> Harden-Hondo. Good luck finding an inch to operate.

I'm not concerned about his PGs. Cut in if you can. Deron, or rookie Lillard are gonna take slap to the face just as they dare.

Other than Kobe, there is no player that can carry the offense. None. If I stop Kobe, games will be blowout very quickly. And I trust Ron and Hondo on that job.

I say sweep for this series.It is for sure not gonna be an upset. I'll honor the seeding and proceed to next round.

After each judge vote, you guys will have the opportunity to make adjustments. Make adjustments on what? We will list reasons as to why your team wins, it is then your job to counter it and come up with another effective strategy and convince the next judge that you can make the proper adjustments.

Yao can not stop Shaq single coverage. Shaq will abuse him. Rodman will have to come over for help and at that point, Dirk will murder Wrecking Crew from the perimeter.

Rodman is one of the best help defenders in this game. He will be needed to contain Shaq, Yao alone will not do it.

Wrecking Crew bench will run the Shohoku 2nd unit out of the gym. We're looking at a close game at halftime.

4th quarter it comes down to the 2 best players, Shaq vs. Kobe. Based on the team strategies, Prime Kobe is getting single coverage. Bad idea. Kobe goes off on Ron and takes over game 1 on the road.

I see no effective strategies about what to do in the 4th quarter on the star player. If prime Shaq and Kobe are both getting single coverage in the 4th quarter, My money is on the Black Mamba.

While Shaq has proven to be an effective option down the stretch in his prime, there is a way to stop him. I'm not going to name it.

Game 1 goes to Wrecking Crew in an upset.

Adjustments to consider:
How to stop the opposition down the stretch?
What to do with Shaq? Single coverage won't cut it over the next games. What to do with Kobe? Single coverage won't cut it either.
Don't count on Kobe to win you the series. Don't count on Shaq being effective throughout the game playing 38 minutes and countering Kobe in the 4th.

If you don't want to do rebuttals for a Game 2, I can submit my write-up for this matchups. I've got my vote for this matchup based on the first write-up. If either of you want to rebuttal at all get it in ASAP and I'll get in the vote.

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

I'm sorry, Massacre, I would love to write long responses but I'm busy these days.

I'll just say this. In 4th quarter, Shaq is not my only option. I have Prime Dirk who is known as clutch when the opportunity arises. And as you said you cannot single coverage Shaq either, and you cannot also single coverage Dirk. One has to give in. And here comes the tricky part. I also have clutch perimeter shooters -> Drazen Petrovic and of course Dirk. Gervin, who is 4-time scoring champion, is also a great option to have. I didn't understand why I lost game 1 even when I had home court advantage. It is absurd to think the game is even that close until 4th quarter. But feel free to evaluate further.

Defensive adjustment: 2-3 will only be ran by the bench for now, and starters are going to shift with double teaming shaq every possession. This makes Rodman and Yao doubling shaq and moving Grant Hill to shutdown Dirk from the perimeter. Dirk will have trouble driving it in on Hill due to Hill's quickness and length, also with dirks only advantage with his height he can post up, but that just makes a lower percentage of a shot because of Hills quick hands. With all this adjustments this should force Ron Artest to be a primary scorer, and I know for a fact he isn't going to score 30 pts knowing ron he will go at the most 7-19. When a close game in the 4th with 5 minutes or so left I would also like to begin the Hack-a-Shaq!!

In Game 2, The Wrecking Crew tries to slow down Shaq by doubling him with Rodman and Yao. This is going to make Dirk and Parker far more effective in pick and pop situations. Since Rodman will be sinking into Shaq, Deron Williams is left with two options. If he tries to get over the screen, Parker is going to have an open mid-range jumper. If he goes under the screen Dirk is left open until Hill can rotate to him, which then leaves Artest or Gervin open who were great at moving without the ball. Denying Shaq and trying to defend 4 on 3 isn't going to work early and I see Shohoku High getting out to an early lead with a steady dose of Tony Parker.

Shohoku leaves Shaq in longer than Yao or Rodman which gives Shaq the opportunity to go to work against Wrecking Crew's 2nd unit. Shaq's close shots slow down Wrecking Crew's more athletic bench, and Shohoku extends the lead. However, eventually it is bench vs. bench and Wrecking Crew's athleticism helps them go on a run, closing the gap before half, but we're still looking at a double digit lead at halftime.

A steady mix of Kobe and Hack-a-Shaq make it a game in the closing minutes. However they must stop that strategy at the 2 minute mark and find themselves in the penalty. Shohoku has made the adjustment to put the ball in the hands of their perimeter players like Gervin, Petrovic, and Dirk. Today Dirk does enough to keep a Kobe rally at bay, and Shohoku takes Game 2.

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

While Shaq is a handful down low for any defender, not just Yao, it will be a difficult time matching up man to man, and if you send a double, Dirk is going hurt you from the outside and then you still have Gervin roaming around.

This comes down to the fourth quarter and you just can't go against Kobe in single coverage. It's about making plays in the fourth quarter and Shohoku has no answer for Kobe.